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On the plus side, a spokesman for the Met Office said last night that the worst of the adverse weather had passed, although the deep chill will continue for a while longer.

Heavy rain started to hit parts of England and Wales on Sunday, spread on Monday and continued into yesterday morning.

Marooned: Homes flooded by the River Wild near Chelmsford

The Thames Barrier was closed as a flood defence for the first time since March last year to protect central London.

But as some got a soaking, a band of snow stretching from South Wales into the Midlands brought down powerlines and left up to 3,000 homes without electricity in Gloucestershire, WorcestershireHerefordshire.

Power had been restored to most homes yesterday morning, but the weather forced the closure of more than 70 schools in Northamptonshire, a similar number in south-east Wales and 52 in Gloucestershire.

Elsewhere, firemen used a boat to rescue five women stranded when the engine of their Skoda Fabia cut out in a flooded country lane on Monday night in Stubbington, Hampshire.

By the time help arrived they were hanging out of the car windows.

Parts of Essex were among the worst hit by rising waters and the county's fire service brought in extra staff to deal with the flurry of 999 calls.

More than 1,500 sandbags were distributed in Chelmsford after a river burst its banks and a dozen families had to be evacuated from their homes in Steeple Bumpstead, near Braintree, because of the risk of flooding.

Ten flooded homes in Clacton-on-Sea had to be evacuated yesterday morning.

All 280 pupils at a primary school in the aptly-named village of Rayne were given the day off when it was forced to close because flooded roads meant staff could not get in.

In Wiltshire a 205-year-old stone wall collapsed into a residential street in Bradford-on-Avon, near Trowbridge, due to the pressure of flood water behind.

Sally Hanson, 48, found herself trapped in her home in the town after the property flooded for the second time this year.

She was marooned upstairs with her Jack Russell, Widget.

Stranded: A motorist awaits rescue after his car became stuck in flood water in Writtle, Chelmsford, Essex